1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to fryer baskets and more particularly to heavy duty or commercial long handle fryer baskets that are used to support food items being cooked by being immersed in cooking oil within a fryer. More particularly, the invention is directed to the field of such fryer baskets with one or more bottom opening panels.
2. Brief Description of the Related Art
Commercial fryer baskets, also known as deep fat fryer baskets, include an open mesh-like structure that forms a receiver or container for retaining a food product to be cooked when immersed in a fryer vat or tub. The receiver or container is welded or otherwise secured to an elongated handle that is designed to extend outwardly beyond the fryer vat or tub so that the handle may be safely grasped without a person having to extend their hands above hot oil within the fryer vat or tub.
In use, a conventional fryer basket is initially filled with a food product such as french fries, coated onion rings, chicken, and the like, after which the basket lowered into a vat or tub of heated cooking oil until seated such that the handle thereof extends outwardly from the fryer vat or tub. After the food product is cooked, a worker responsible for the fried product engages the handle of the basket and elevates the basket from the vat of cooking oil. The basket must normally be retained above the vat of cooking oil for a brief period so that oil from the basket and the food product may drip back into the vat. Once the food product is sufficiently drained, the food product must be removed from the fryer basket. With convention fryer baskets, the food product is removed by the worker turning the basket upside down over a food retention bin or area so that the food product is discharged by gravity from an open top of the fryer basket.
The weight of long handle fryer baskets can very greatly from less than a pound to several pounds, or more, depending on the size of the basket and the food product being cooked. Further, because the weight of the basket and food product is at the end of the handle spaced from a workers hand(s) and wrist(s), the amount of stress being placed on the workers hand(s) and wrist(s) is considerable. Considering the number of times it may be necessary for a worker to rotate loaded fryer baskets to discharge food products during a given work shift, it is not unusual for workers to develop or experience hand, wrist and forearm pain from fatigued and strained muscles, ligaments, tendons and joints. Once a worker develops an injury, the chance of an accident occurring during the handling and manipulating of loaded fryer baskets is significantly increased.
To facilitate the dispensing of cooked food items from fryer baskets in an effort to reduce worker effort, several recent proposals have been made to manufacture fryer baskets with opening bottom walls or panels which pivot to an open position when a worker operates a release mechanism associated with the fryer basket. Although fryer baskets having bottom walls that open by manually operated release mechanism reduce that amount worker stress by eliminating the wrist and forearm pivoting motion required to rotate conventional fryer baskets to discharge cook food product, there remain problems with respect to the quick and safe closure of the pivotal bottom walls or panels of such fryers. Often, the pivotal bottom walls may not readily pivot back to the closed and locked position without manual manipulation of the bottom walls or panels or the release operating mechanisms. In either case, such additional manual manipulation is time consuming, unsafe and potentially unhealthy. Further, after a worker manually contacts parts of the fryer that are coated with oil, the worker must clean his or her hands before performing any addition work within a kitchen.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need to provide a new type of long handle fryer basket having a manually releasable bottom opening wall or panel that prevents muscle, ligament, tendon and joint strain and injury and which also closes easily after being opened to dispense cooked food products without the need for manual engagement of any portion of the basket that is exposed to cooking oil.